Crushing it in Charlotte. Invisible in Indianapolis.
Kelly wasn’t starting from scratch. She had years of experience, incredible work in her portfolio, and a business that had already proven itself in one market. But when she expanded to Indianapolis, her website didn’t come with her.
She tried everything she could think of on her own: adding Indianapolis to different pages, publishing blog posts targeting the new city, even debating whether to build a second website entirely. Nothing was moving the needle. Google wasn’t connecting her to brand founders and business owners in Indianapolis, and her reach in Charlotte seemed to be slipping as well.
Two Cities, One Strategy. Zero Guesswork
Kelly didn’t need a generic SEO setup. She needed a strategy built specifically for a business operating across two markets at the same time. Here’s how we made that happen inside the SEO Starter Kit:
Mapping Out the Moves First
Before a single page was touched, I walked Kelly through the full plan. Expanding to a second city isn’t something you can slap a few keywords onto and call done. It takes a specific approach, and Kelly deserved to understand exactly what that looked like. What was getting done, why it mattered for both Charlotte and Indianapolis, what the timeline looked like, and what results to watch for.
Finding Out How Both Cities Were Seeing Her
Every core page got a thorough check to catch anything quietly stopping Google from reading her site correctly in either market. Missing tags, blank fields, structural issues: all of it identified and fixed before anything else moved forward.
The Searches That Matter in Both Markets
Brand founders and business owners searching for a photographer don’t all type the same thing. The keyword research here went deep into both cities: what people in Charlotte were searching, what people in Indianapolis were searching, and how to make sure Kelly’s site was showing up for both at the right moment.
Seeing Where She Could Get the Edge
A competitor analysis looked at how other brand photographers in Charlotte and Indianapolis were getting found on Google. Not just who they were, but what they were ranking for, where they were showing up, and where they weren’t. That gave Kelly a clear and specific picture of where she had room to get in front of business owners in both cities before the competition did, and we built her strategy around those gaps.
Pages That Work for Two Cities at Once
Every page needed to speak to Google about both locations without feeling forced or robotic to the person actually reading it. SEO titles, meta descriptions, URL slugs, alt text, and heading structure across the site were all written and optimized so Google understood exactly what Kelly does and where, and the business owners landing on her pages felt like they’d found their person.
Showing Up Beyond Just Google Search
It’s not just Google anymore. Business owners are typing “brand photographer in Indianapolis” into ChatGPT and Claude and trusting what comes back. Kelly’s site was reviewed for how it was showing up in AI-driven search across both cities, with specific recommendations to make sure she was positioned to get recommended there too.
Tracking Every Lead Back to Its Source
For someone running a business across two cities, knowing where your leads are coming from isn’t just nice to have – it’s essential. Kelly’s site was fully connected behind the scenes and ready for conversion tracking so she could see exactly which city was sending traffic, which searches were landing people on her pages, and which of those were turning into real bookings.
Checking In on the Wins at 30 and 90 Days
At 30 and 90 days, Kelli came back with a full picture of how both cities were performing. Which keywords had Kelly climbing in Charlotte, which Indianapolis searches were starting to pick up, and what was worth doubling down on, and what the next chapter of Kelly’s two-city strategy looked like.
Three Months In, Google Was Working Overtime in Both Cities
Kelly came in wanting to show up in two cities at the same time. Here’s what three months looked like:
- Ranking on page one of Google for 5 keywords spanning both Charlotte and Indianapolis
- 10+ leads from Google within three months
- 2 bookings directly from Google within the first month alone
- Immediate lead growth in both targeted locations
The blog posts and the second website debate were never the answer. The right SEO setup was. And once it was in place, both cities started delivering. Charlotte stayed strong. Indianapolis came to life. All from one website, built to work for both.
Whether you’re planting roots in a new city or trying to lock in your presence in the one you’re already in, your website should be working as hard as you are.
If you want to show up where your clients are already searching, the SEO Starter Kit is exactly where we start.
“I got 2 bookings from Google”
I got 2 bookings from Google within the first month of working with Kelli, and then 4 more leads and 2 bookings in the next two months! She’s the real deal!!!
I thought I had done a decent job with SEO on my own but then I hired Kelli and I realized there was a ton of stuff I had missed!!!
She not only helped me optimize my website, but she also gave me tons of other feedback for how to improve the strategy and content on my website.
AND she gave me a 30 day, 60 day, and 90 day check-in and showed me what was working.
If you’re not sure if she’s worth it, I’ll just tell you hiring her paid for itself within a MONTH for me!!
— KELLY KLEMMENSEN, INDY PHOTOGRAPHER + VIDEOGRAPHER
